Active Elements Role in Sports by Dr. Lisa Williams
The power of the Active Elements Minerals and of correct mineral supplementation in general, has been most exemplified for me in relation to exercise and sport.
I like to keep myself fit and I run all year around, with pretty much annual forays into more intense training territory when I get these crazy big ideas to do an event like a half marathon…..
I have always played sport and kept fit so I thought my energy levels were pretty good. However when I started taking the minerals – my mineral signature is 3.1 + 2.1 - I was amazed at the difference. I started taking them initially 3x daily. One week later I returned from my usual run and I was astonished to find that the normal fatigue I had after a run was completely gone. Nothing. I felt fresh. Energized. I could have happily turned around and gone again (but I didn’t).
It turns out that the sense of fatigue I had felt and put down to normal post-exercise tiredness - or perhaps to the feeling that I needed to be fitter – was more a result of depletion. I hadn’t noticed anything wrong as such; I was healthy and I was still able to complete the run, but this sub-par feeling of fatigue had crept up on me without my realizing it. Knowing what the feeling is, the difference between a normal tiredness from exertion and a depleted feeling can be crucial to monitoring our own health and wellbeing. Now that I know the difference, I can keep an eye on it.
In addition to the maintenance dose, I have also utilized the minerals effectively in targeted ways to support myself in training for the 21km distance.
Firstly, the 3.1 blend can effectively and completely eradicate sore muscles associated with over exertion – lactic acid build up. That “next day” feeling many of us know all too well of what happens to unfit muscles that are pushed beyond their normal range of use. Painful to contract, stiff as boards and about as flexible - it can make the day after exercise very slow and tentative!
And can be even worse on day 2….
This acidic build up is a result of the incomplete metabolism of glucose in the muscles, which happens when the muscle has a serious lack of oxygen. When oxygen is plentiful, we get complete breakdown of glucose and maximize the energy we get from it – happy muscles. The more fit we are, the better our body’s oxygen carrying ability, the more oxygen is available to the muscles, and the less lactic acid build up occurs. But even fit muscles can get a bit tender with over exertion, as those acidic waste metabolites build up in the tissues.
The 3.1 blend can completely alleviate that sore lactic acid muscle feeling. It contains sodium phosphate, which works to clear the lactic acid from the muscles by acting as a pH buffering system. The sodium takes the phosphate into the tissues, and the phosphate forms an acid/base buffer. The way that I have used it is to take one tablet every hour for at least 4 hours once you have finished exercising – once you have that dawning feeling of “ooh this is going to hurt tomorrow”. Regular doses post exercise prevents the soreness the next day! If it is too late and the next day soreness has already set in, you can still assist the process by taking them hourly and the muscles will ease through the day.
The 3.1 blend also has the benefit of magnesium phosphate and potassium phosphate – both vital components of nerve transmission and muscle contraction and therefore good at ensuring we don’t get cramp. If you are cramping, then there is likely an imbalance in the minerals associated with the contraction and – perhaps more importantly – relaxation of muscle contraction.
Magnesium ions are vital for the relaxation part of the muscle contraction – relaxation cycle and without it the muscle gets stuck in the contracted position – a very painful process!
It should be noted however, that calcium and sodium and potassium are also involved in muscle function, so a balanced combination of all of these mineral salts is needed in our diet. Taking a combination Active Elements blend like 3.1 along with a silica/calcium fluoride mineral combination (either 2.1 or 4.3) provides all the minerals we need to provide that balance. For muscle contraction we get valuable calcium, but also silica for the elasticity and strength of all the connective tissues.
Finally, in terms of training and exercise demands on the body, magnesium is vital for the body’s “engine room” - cell metabolism. Many of the cell’s bread & butter metabolic processes that provide energy and building blocks for the body - like making proteins, cell division/growth and repairing tissues, digesting food – need magnesium. Providing magnesium as a phosphate also delivers vital phosphate to the cell. Phosphate is part of the cell’s energy currency, ATP, without which we soon experience fatigue and the body is under stress to cope with any demands on its performance.
Both magnesium and phosphate can become highly depleted when exercising intensely or for long periods, which is where the fatigue comes from. Providing magnesium for all those enzyme processes, and for the pathways that break down glucose to provide energy; and at the same time providing phosphate for the ATP building/breakdown cycles, gives you the juice to keep running. And, I have found that taking the 3.1 tablets during running, whether a race or training, boosts my energy and avoids any depletion. In addition, the boost provided is instant owing to the homeopathic component of the formulation.
